AAMU Moves Up in US News’ Rankings

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Huntsville, AL. ---- In the recently released 2012 U.S. News and World Report rankings among historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), state-supported Alabama A&M University has climbed from last year’s 28th place listing to No. 18.Last year, all top ten HBCUs listed by the magazine were private institutions.Only one public HBCU made the top ten in 2012.

It is probable that AAMU’s rating could have improved even more dramatically had it provided more compelling data on its alumni giving rate, says AAMU President Andrew Hugine, Jr. Alumni giving is among a dozen factors used in compiling the annual listing.

“We definitely continue our alumni to give something,” urges Hugine.“The amount is not nearly as important as the percentage at which they give.”

U.S. News’ “Best Black Colleges” were comprised based on average freshman retention rate, average graduation rate, percentage of classes under 20 students, percentage of classes over 50 or more, student-faculty ratio, percentage of full-time faculty, SAT/ACT percentiles, freshmen in top quarter of their high school class, acceptance rate and peer assessment.

Hugine also noted that peer assessment accounts for 25 percent of the total score HBCUs receive in the U.S. News college rankings.“This assessment is the result of how we are perceived and the information that is published about our university,” says Hugine.“It further underscores how important our image and perception is to rankings such as these.”